Metcalfe’s ‘solution’

April 19, 2018Letters to the Editor

First of all, keep in mind that Rep. Daryl Metcalfe chairs the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee. For months, if not years, he has stonewalled House Bill 722, which would have established a non-partisan citizen’s commission to set up fair voting districts. He has not allowed the bill to pass to the full House for a vote.

Now he has produced an amendment which provides for a six-member commission, with three members from the Senate and three from the House. Each chamber is to pick one member from each party caucus and votes on the third member.

Guess what? In a legislature with a Republican majority, that third member will be a Republican, and Republican gerrymandering will continue.

Problem solved? Hardly.

It was just this kind of setup, with the politicians in charge, that got us into the mess we’re in now. Democrats get more total votes in Pennsylvania, but Republicans win more seats in the legislature. Politicians tend to vote for the best interests of their party, not necessarily for clean, representative government.

Daryl Metcalfe knows that, and he has produced a bill that perpetuates it.